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The real Africa.
South Luangwa is one of the premier parks in Southern Africa, with abundant and diverse wildlife and a true remote feeling. North Luangwa is even remoter, about as remote as you can get in Africa those days.
In South Luangwa lions are commonly seen, and the nightdrives offer a good chance of seeing the nocturnal animals, including the ever elusive leopard, which is often seen.
Wild dogs are also regularly seen and the Luangwa Valley host (near) endemice subspecies of Thornicroft's Giraffe, Crawshay's Zebra and Cookson's Wildebeest.
With over 400 bird species recorded the Luangwa Valley is a birders dream. Specialties are the southern carmine bee-eater colonies from late August to November. Pel's fishing owl is also regularly seen, as are numerous other raptors.
South Luangwa is the home of walking safaris,
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originally started by Norman Carr. While you might not see the likes of lions and elephants as well as from a vehicle, walking between those animals is a truly exhilirating experience!Liuwa Plain National Park (I visited in October-November 2010) is a park for the advanced Africa traveller. Very remote and offering wide views or a vast, flat plain. It hosts the second biggest wildebeest migration (after the Serengeti-Masaai Mara migration) of about 40,000 wildebeest (the number is growing). Wild dogs and cheetah are home on and around the plain, where hyaenas are numerous. The lion population, which was down to 1 female (lady Liuwa) is slowly being restored and 2 males (in 2009) and 2 subadult females (in 2011) have been reintroduced.
The plains are a birders dreams, with tens of thousand migratory birds (like Caspian Plover, Pratincoles). Pelicans, grey crowned cranes, wattled cranes, fuellerborn's longclaws are numerous. Liuwa Plain NP is a truly unique experience.
Lower Zambezi National Park (August 2008, 2009) is an exclusive park. The actual safari area is quite small, but the game is plentiful and the (luxury) camps don't just offer game drives and walks, but also boating and fishing (releasing of the catch).
Spencer
Visited:
June 2011
Reviewed: Jan 2, 2012
Zambia is an extraordinary country because of its lovely people and beautiful wildlife and scenery.
The wildlife was amazing. I went on safari in Tanzania after Zambia and I think I saw more interesting animals in Zambia. The scenery -- the bush, the rural areas, Vic Falls -- was all amazing as well. Accommodation was easy to find in general and not too expensive. I liked the food - nshima, fish, beef - a lot. We didn't really use any guides or private transport. For more information, you can read about my experiences in Zambia on my blog at www.aperturezambia.blogspot.com .
Jesús
ES
Visited:
August 2024
Reviewed: Sep 10, 2024
Email Jesús | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
nice people nice scenic and wildlife
We travelled with Zamsato and everything was well organised.
The river safaris on the Zambezi are spectacular as well as the canoe trips.
The game drives on the lower Zambezi are a bit long but with lush vegetation.
The connection to South Luangwa was very well organised by plane and airplane.
game drive safaris and walking safaris in luangwa very good with less people than in other countries.
The lodges are generally very good with international cuisine and very friendly staff.
Michael
GR
Visited:
March 2024
Reviewed: Apr 24, 2024
Email Michael | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Relaxing destination providing the opportunity to be thrilled by wildlife
Zambian people are very friendly and polite with general living standards above the African average, helping the tourist feel relaxed and safe.
Victoria waterfalls are truly a great wonder of nature and the various natural parks offer wildlife encounters depending on the season and location.
William Schelling
US
Visited:
May 2023
Reviewed: Jul 16, 2023
Email William Schelling | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Under rated.
We booked to a part of Zambia that we were not familiar with. South Lawanga, not hard to get to but not all that easy, which made it perfect for us. We did not want the over touristing that can occur in some parks. The Thornicroft Lodge was perfect. Very comfortable, food was exceptional and the expert management was reflected in the entire experience. Game drives were always fun, and sometimes quite exciting. Due to the lower volume, animal sightings were often not overrun with other vehicles, and the game was quite plentiful. One person who insured our trip exceeded expectations was Elina Phiri, who manages the lodge. She insured that all went smoothly, from game drives to making sure we were where we supposed to be on time. I would highly recommend this excursion to anyone.
Veronica Alvarez
NO
Visited:
April 2023
Reviewed: Apr 24, 2023
Email Veronica Alvarez | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fortunately not too popular yet. We were two of very few tourists in amazing and beautiful places.
We went during the green season, at the end of the rainy season. Lovely weather, very few tourists, a lot of wildlife easy to spot if you are with an experienced guide. Unfortunately some roads were still flooded and closed, but it didnt impact hugely our plans. We visited Kafue National Park (highly recommend Nanzhila Lodge) and Livingstone. It was perfect!
Graeme
GB
Visited:
July 2019
Reviewed: Jul 29, 2019
Email Graeme | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Superb
I used Gondwana Tours to organise my entire tour, and it was absolutely superb. July is a brilliant time to visit South Luangwa, with cool mornings, warm afternoons and mild evenings, all perfect for wildlife watching. Accommodation with Flatdogs Camp and Nkonzi Bush Camp was to a brilliant standard, with great food, comfortable beds and knowledgeable, insightful guides. Wildlife density and diversity are both excellent, including four of the Big Five. My absolute highlight was being able to get really close to leopards, providing some amazing opportunities for photos with these beautiful cats. I would go back in an instant!
Shivakumar
GB
Visited:
April 2016
Reviewed: Apr 27, 2016
Email Shivakumar | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Relatively few tourists compared to other African countries
Game viewing easily matches the best parks on the African continent
catherina unger
IT
Visited:
October 2015
Reviewed: Jan 2, 2016
Email catherina unger | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Zambia for me is one of the best safari destination overall. Few tourists, great accommodations, wonderful wildlife, very well trained guides, wonderful nature. Only the infrastructure (moving between the national parks) is a bit complicated. There are no direct flight options between the parks (as there are in Tansania for example). You have always to return to Lusaka which is less fun...
Fantastic park, great to see the animals up so close
Stayed at Flat Dogs Camp for about 4 days, and found it a great location to explore the park as it was very close to one of the entrances. The camp is open, therefore elephants, monkeys and hippos wander through quite a lot, so you can sometimes get a great view from the swimming pool. Our guide took us in using an open land rover, and knew all the sites where the animals would be located. This meant we got to see the lions quickly, which would have been impossible if we had tried to do it ourselves. Later, he and another guide took us walking in a section of the park (precautions were taken of course!!!) and described the various animals, tracks, and vegetation that could be seen. We used out own vehicle the following days, dividing the park into sections we wanted to visit as it was too big to do in one day. Was great just to be able to go where you wanted though don't advise getting stuck in the sand! Flat Dogs camp had great accomodation, good choice of food, bar, pool, and offered guided tours - definately recommended.
